Sight & Sound

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Aunt Peg
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:30 am

Re: Sight & Sound

#26 Post by Aunt Peg » Tue Jul 21, 2020 5:50 am

domino harvey wrote:
Thu Jul 16, 2020 10:17 am
Has anyone in the states received their copy from the BFI shop? I preordered but haven’t received any shipping notification
I ordered the issue with La Haine on the cover from the BFI website on 1 July as my local bookstore never received their order. Aside from an acknowledgement I have not received any shipping notification. I email them an enquiry on 10 July and have not received a response. No doubt COVID has thrown everything out of kilter.

I'll just wait and hope I receive it by the end of August, given it is taking 2 to 9 weeks (based on my on personal experiences) for things to arrive to Australia. And that is likely to get worse because Melbourne is understandably not taking any International flights until their COVID cases drop and Sydney has reduced International flights from today to just seven passenger flights per day (with a maximum of 50 people on board). No doubt freight flights are affected to some degree.

I got a text a couple of weeks ago from my local bookstore expecting it to be the issue with La Haine on the cover and it turned out to be the Summer 2020 edition which I wasn't aware they had even published. I was planning to cease my readership of both S&S and Film Comment but didn't have the heart to do that to my local bookstore that like most businesses is struggling.

To be honest I just flick through both magazines and barely read them anymore........

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Ovader
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:56 am
Location: Canada

Re: Sight & Sound

#27 Post by Ovader » Tue Jul 21, 2020 6:26 am

domino harvey wrote:
Thu Jul 16, 2020 10:17 am
Has anyone in the states received their copy from the BFI shop? I preordered but haven’t received any shipping notification
I just sent an e-mail about my June 24th pre-order to Canada and received an automatic reply stating "Please note that due to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the BFI Southbank is currently closed and as a result there will be a slight delay with the fulfilment of online orders."

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domino harvey
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Sight & Sound

#28 Post by domino harvey » Sat Jul 25, 2020 3:45 pm

My copy arrived today in a see-through bag. So be forewarned, now your mailman will know you read about Godard!

Image

Also, there are only two ads that I saw in the whole thing, so you are really getting the full page count of material here, FYI— they could have easily reformatted all this material into a book and charged three times as much

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Rayon Vert
Green is the Rayest Color
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:52 pm
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Re: Sight & Sound

#29 Post by Rayon Vert » Sat Jul 25, 2020 4:27 pm

Thanks for reminding me to get this. Though I'm getting the same bank flagging as with World Pay.

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domino harvey
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Sight & Sound

#30 Post by domino harvey » Sat Jul 25, 2020 4:37 pm

I used my AMEX with no problems, if that’s an option

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Rayon Vert
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Re: Sight & Sound

#31 Post by Rayon Vert » Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:44 pm

I had to call the bank twice, but it finally worked. Looking forward to the issue.

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Sight & Sound

#32 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Jul 31, 2020 4:14 pm

They changed to that style of bag recently for sending the normal Sight & Sound to subscribers, so I guess it is a bit more environmentally friendly than the pure plastic version.

I have been really enjoying reading through the issue on my train commutes and really liked the "G.O.M." review of Weekend from the Monthly Film Bulletin which incisively illuminated that film a lot, particularly that comment that begins with noting that both the female survivor of the sports car crashing into the tractor and the driver of that tractor get
G.O.M. in the Monthly Film Bulletin, August 1968 wrote:... 'fauxtographed' together against an advertisement hoarding; traditionally 'rich' and 'poor', they are now both dupes of a consumer society. The tractor was as new as the sports car; the class war has moved elsewhere. The hippy charlatan Balsamo proposes a revolution in the spirit of man but all he produces with his faith is a rabbit and a flock of Bunuel's sheep. His gun kills nobody. Saint-Just soon turns into another sports-car driver chasing a girl on the phone. Emily Bronte dies, but her ideas live on - where? Perhaps in the assistant to the pianist, who appears to be having a muted success with high culture in low places.

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modernmalaise
Joined: Thu May 18, 2017 10:12 pm

Re: Sight & Sound

#33 Post by modernmalaise » Sat Aug 08, 2020 4:41 pm

For what it's worth, I just got my copy of the Godard issue in the US and it arrived in a padded paper envelope, no plastic in sight. So at least my postal worker doesn't know I read about Godard.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Sight & Sound

#34 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Aug 08, 2020 5:13 pm

I still haven't received mine yet, and unfortunately never got a tracking number. I hope when it does come my mailman sees it and becomes inspired to become a Godard enthusiast by his hypnotic chair posture.

Glowingwabbit
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 1:27 pm

Re: Sight & Sound

#35 Post by Glowingwabbit » Sat Aug 08, 2020 5:41 pm

therewillbeblus wrote:
Sat Aug 08, 2020 5:13 pm
I still haven't received mine yet, and unfortunately never got a tracking number. I hope when it does come my mailman sees it and becomes inspired to become a Godard enthusiast by his hypnotic chair posture.
I got mine on Thursday in a padded envelope that wasn't see through. I never got a tracking number and it didn't show in my informed delivery. So I'm sure you'll get it soon.

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domino harvey
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Re: Sight & Sound

#36 Post by domino harvey » Sat Aug 08, 2020 6:16 pm

I guess that means the padded mailer crew didn’t get the exclusive Godard-branded mailing page the clearies received

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Aunt Peg
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:30 am

Re: Sight & Sound

#37 Post by Aunt Peg » Mon Aug 10, 2020 1:59 am

I received my S&S back order for the May 2020 edition. It was sent on 13 July so it took just under a month which given the worldwide circumstances is understanable.

Does the Godard issue have anything else in it aside from Godard related stuff and advertising (I assume) ?

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Sight & Sound

#38 Post by colinr0380 » Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:04 am

Apart from that first essay by Louis Marcorelles, "French Cinema The Old And The New" from 1958 which glancingly mentions Godard, otherwise its all Godard all the time!

I've just got to the "Godard and the USA" essay by Claire Clouzot (Henri-Georges Clouzot's granddaughter) which notes in passing that the prospective fabled twenty university campus tour of La Chinoise gets cut down to only six when Godard returns to France for a weekend and does not comes back except for the New York dates! But he had pretty much gotten his point across (and got the point himself) at the Berkeley screenings, it seems.

Lots of amazing photographs to complement the text there too from Godard chatting to Black Panther member Kathleen Cleaver to the Castro mask mentioned in passing that inspired another ironic quotation from the filmmaker!

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Aunt Peg
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:30 am

Re: Sight & Sound

#39 Post by Aunt Peg » Mon Aug 10, 2020 6:46 am

Thanks Colinr0380.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Sight & Sound

#40 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:13 pm

I reached out about my order very casually a few days ago, just asking if there was a way to track it on their end, not complaining or saying it was missing.. and today received an email saying that my order was "complete" and a replacement was issued today. I don't know if that means they tracked it and found it lost, or if I'll be getting two, but the last time this same situation happened I wound up receiving three copies of Celine and Julie Go Boating despite my attempts to contact BFI and say mine had been received, after an initial question about its whereabouts. They just kept coming.

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Sight & Sound

#41 Post by knives » Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:19 pm

Well, if you do get two I've got some cash in hand.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Sight & Sound

#42 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:22 pm

knives wrote:
Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:19 pm
Well, if you do get two I've got some cash in hand.
I'll definitely PM you if so

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Rayon Vert
Green is the Rayest Color
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Re: Sight & Sound

#43 Post by Rayon Vert » Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:50 pm

Ordered mine on July 25, and got it yesterday August 10 (Canada), if that helps anyone in terms of comparing time frames. Padded envelope as well.

I like that it doesn't overrepresent the 60s, but some late 80s and 90s are definitely missing in the reviews (Soigne ta droite, Hélas pour moi, For Ever Mozart for instance), and there's something wrong with Éloge de l'amour getting less than a third of a page when many get a full page each, although I imagine that just reflects the reviews that were published at the time.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Sight & Sound

#44 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:56 pm

Interesting, I think Hélas pour moi is one of his best and most profound works, and For Ever Mozart is another that demands more generous critical evaluation regardless of personal opinions on the film. As long as Notre Musique gets dissected at length I'll be happy though. I'm very glad to hear it doesn't overrepresent the 60s.

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Sight & Sound

#45 Post by knives » Tue Aug 11, 2020 1:00 pm

I'd like to read up more on his '70s television products. I've only seen one and it was indistinguishable from his theatrical work aside from the length.

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Sight & Sound

#46 Post by colinr0380 » Tue Aug 11, 2020 1:04 pm

Yes I think there is a disclaimer in the filmography at the back that "feature films listed above that aren't reviewed in this publication were not released in the UK", which also explains the absence of Made in USA, Un film commes les autres, Pravda and Struggle In Italy and the films between 1990 and 2001 such as Germany Year 90 Nine Zero, Helas pour moi and For Ever Mozart (though a number of these films get namechecked in the contemporary articles on Godard in general). therewillbeblus, Notre Musique gets its due with a contemporary review by Ginette Vincendau as well as an interview with the director by Michael Witt.

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Rayon Vert
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Re: Sight & Sound

#47 Post by Rayon Vert » Tue Aug 11, 2020 1:20 pm

knives wrote:
Tue Aug 11, 2020 1:00 pm
I'd like to read up more on his '70s television products. I've only seen one and it was indistinguishable from his theatrical work aside from the length.
The Brody biography is a good thing for that if you haven't read it. The Douglas Morrey book in the French Film Directors Series is the analysis book I like and admire the best, and some of the television work gets covered.

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Sight & Sound

#48 Post by knives » Tue Aug 11, 2020 1:26 pm

Thanks for the recommendations.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Sight & Sound

#49 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Aug 11, 2020 1:32 pm

Colin, that's a shame about that omitted period (JLG/JLG and Nouvelle Vague are two of his best later works as well) but heartening about NM.

RV, thanks for those resource suggestions. I've dabbled in the TV work and would love to read more about his collaborative relationship with Anne-Marie Miéville, his perfect match in an intellectual partner.

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Sight & Sound

#50 Post by colinr0380 » Tue Aug 11, 2020 4:59 pm

They cover Nouvelle Vague with a lengthier than usual review, but that appears to be the last time a Godard film was reviewed in Sight & Sound until Eloge de l'amour was released (incidentally Eloge de l'amour is one of the few Godard films to have shown on UK television in recent years, so that appears to have been his big break back into the public eye in this country at least)

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